Metal shoe fastener



gwventoz O. H. LAWRENCE METAL SHOE FASTENER Filed March 24. 1923 Maw, 25,

Patented Nov. 25, 1924..

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ORYILLE H. LAWRENCE, 01F CANON'IO, ONTARIO, CANADA.

METAL SHOE FASTENER.

Application filed March 24, 1923. Serial No. 627,310.

To all whom it may concern:

lrle it known that I, ORVILLE H. Law- RENCE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Canonto, in the Province of Ontario and Dominion of Canada, have i11- vented certain. new and useful Improvements in Metal Shoe Fasteners; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the, invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to Which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in shoe fasteners and more particularly to a device to take the place of the well known string fastener or shoe string in use at the present time. The main object of the present invention being the provision of what is known as hook fasteners adapted to bridge the opening formed in the upper of the shoe for drawing the upper tightly around the foot of the wearer, said fasteners having one end firmly connected with one side of the opening and adapted to detachably engage eyelets formed on the opposite side of the opening.

Another objectof the invention is the provision of a shoe fastener wherein the longitudinal edges of the slit which is formed in the upper portion of the shoe are brought together in a closed position in a very short space of time and can be quickly and readily released when desired.

A further objectof the present invention is the provision ofa shoe fastener formed of a single piece of material having one end secured in position within one of the eyelets upon the side of the slit formed in the upper portion of the shoe and having a hook portion upon the other end adapted to detachably engagewith the eyelets upon the opposite side of the slit whereby the upper portion of the shoe can be quickly and readily secured in position after the shoe has been placed upon the foot of the wearer.

With the above and other objects in view the invention consistsin the novel features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter more fully set. forth, pointed out in the claims and shown in the accon'ipanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a shoe showing my improved attachment applied thereto;

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view taken across the slit in the upper portion of the shoe showing my improved fastener in operative position;

Fig. 8 is a transverse sectional view taken across the slit in the upper portion of the shoe showing my improved fastener disengaged.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the fastener;

Fig. 5 is a front elevation of one form of locking means for permanently attaching the fastener to the shoe, and

Fig. 6 is a front elevation of a portion of the fastener showing a modified form of the locking means at one end of the fastener.

As stated in the objects noted above, my invention is to replace the shoe string fastener in use at the present time and. provide a fastener for closing the slit in the upper portion of the shoe afterv the foot of the wearer has been inserted within the shoe and for opening the said, slit in a short space of time, also to provide a device of a durable wearing quality to correspond with the wearing of the shoe so that the fasteners will not have to be replaced before the shoe is worn out.

The fastener itself, of which several are to be used on a single shoe, consists of a single piece of material or wire of suitable weight having a body portion 1 and inwardly extending hook members 2 and 2-3 at its opposite ends. The usual form of eyelets i and l are positioned in the shoe in the customary manner.

The free or upper end of the fastener 1 is provided with a hook end 2 which is beveled and extends in a plane perpendicular to that of the fastener as at 5.

The hooked end 3 is provided with anotch in its extremity thereby forming the spaced teeth 7 which may be for ned by cutting the notch in a curved manner, as illustrated in Fig. 5, or by taking awedge shaped piece from the wire as shown in Fig. 6 of the drawings.

In applying the fastener to the shoe, the hook member 3, as will be observed, is engaged with the eyelet 4 and is bent up underneath the said eyelet and the spaced prongs 7 are forced into the underneath surface of the shoe leather, thereby preventing a fastener from becoming detached therefrom. The hook member 2 is of such size and shape that it can be readily inserted within one of the eyelets upon opposite sides of the slits and engaged therewith, as shown in Fig. 2, by compressing the portion of the upper, upon opposite sides. of the said slit, together to permit the hook 2 to be in serted within the eyelet, thence, after relieving the pressure upon the portions on opposite sides of the slit, the hook 2 will readily engage with the side wall of the eyelet. When it is desired to release the portion of the upper upon opposite sides of the slit. for removing the foot from the shoe, pressure is again exerted upon opposite sides of the slit for bringing the portions together suflicient to permit the removal of the hook 2 from the eyelet 4. so that the slit can be quickly and readily opened.

As a general rule, in fastening the slits in the upper-portion of shoes, they are usually fastened in an irregular manner, that is, the longitudinal edges of the slit may be brought tightly together at the lower end of the slit while at the place where the slit crosses the instep .ofthe fo0t,'they will be some distanceapart and it will be, therefore, necessary to provide these fasteners in various lengths so that the shorter fasteners may be used at the lower portion of the slit and it will, no doubt, be necessary to use differ ent lengths of fasteners in fastening the slit the entire distance-as longer fasteners will be necessary where the same passes over the instep. and shorter fasteners at both ends of the slit, but the fasteners can be made in any length. desired and several lengths of fasteners sold in ,asingle package at one time so that the party using the device will have no trouble in obtaining the proper length of fasteners for attachment to the shoe.

It will be noted as illustrated in Fig. ,1, that after the hookmembers 2 have been engaged with the eyelets and the shoe completely fastened, it gives the appearance of the usual straight lacing carried out with the usual string fastening at the present time and gives a very neat appearance to the shoe. I wish it to be understood that, while I have shown and described in the present instance, the fastener as formed of a single piece of wire, any suitable material can be used such as strips of flat pressed steel or other desirable material as 1 do not wish to be limited to the exact shape and design of the fastener. Special attention is called to the fact that the hooked ends or prongs 7 of the fastener 1 are engaged and become lodged within the under surface of one side of the slit in the shoe so that it will be impossible to remove the same unintentionally or t rough constant manipulation of opening and closing the said fastener. However, if the fastener should accidentally become broken, it will be an easy job to rcmove thc broken end of the fastener and replace the same with a new one.

Having thus fully described my invention, I claim:

1. An improved shoe fastener comln'ising a wire bent into arcuate form to form a body and having its ends bent in ardly one of said ends formed with laterally spaced prongs inwardly directed bent under and toward the body.

2. An improved shoe fastener comprising a rigid wire bent into arcuato form to form a body and having its ends bent inwardly one of said ends beveled in a plane perpendicular to that of the fastener and the other end provided with laterally spaced prongs inwardly directed bent under and toward the body.

In testimony whereof I allix my signature.

ORVILLE H. LAYW ENC F. 

